Airborne Assured PNT Hub

Across the DoD, efforts are underway to develop robust alternatives to GPS for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). The Navy’s open architecture assured PNT system for its surface fleet, the AN/SSN-9(V) GPNTS, is one such alternative. GPNTS proves that it is feasible to develop open architecture systems that integrate non-GPS sources of position, velocity, attitude, and time (PVAT) to enable Navy operations in GPS-denied environments. However, it is optimized for shipboard use. It is housed in racks that are far too large to integrate with airframes, and it is designed to integrate with the AN/WSN-7 and an exquisite atomic clock. Moreover, the GPNTS sensor fusion algorithms are optimized for platforms moving in just two dimensions – i.e., on the surface of the sea – at a maximum speed of thirty nautical miles per hour. Compare that to a P-8A moving in three dimensions at 500+ miles per hour, or an F/A-18 moving at supersonic speeds with significant jerk.In this SBIR, Caliola will develop a modular and open architecture assured PNT hub for Navy aircraft. To this end, we will leverage elements of the GPNTS open architecture where appropriate, but extend or modify the design as needed for the airborne environment. In Phase I, we will design a functional architecture that includes (i) configurable modules that interface with aircraft avionics; (ii) configurable modules that interface with non-GPS sources of PVAT; and (iii) a configurable software hosting environment and software development kit that supports integrity monitoring, sensor fusion, and logging. Caliola has relevant experience in all three elements of this architecture. We are currently developing a shipboard alternate PNT sensor for Navy PMW/A-170 that uses lines of bearing to communications satellites to derive a position estimate. We are also developing tools that support integrity monitoring of shipboard GPS and non-GPS sources of PVAT for PMW/A-170. Finally, we have prototyped hardware for the Air Force Armament Directorate that interfaces with the MIL-STD-1553 avionics bus.